Should I buy GW2?

Let me start off by saying I currently play WoW, but I am getting ready to go back to school and will be working full-time also, so I don't think WoW is going to be worth me paying the monthly sub for due to the lack time that I might be able to play.

I had previously played GW2 (won a contest online via twitch, and the guy apparently bought the serial to GW2 with a stolen CC so they cancelled my account). I really liked it, but was turned off at the time by the "2nd chance aspect" of how you could spend so long trying to kill someone just for them to come right back. I'm looking for a f2p game to play and was thinking about something like GW2 or Wildstar (if it was going to be free). I'm going to try Firefall also, but those are the main 3 I had in mind. I would be playing GW2 mainly for sPvP.

What big changes have been made in GW2 (mainly PvP related) that might make it worth playing, and do you guys think its worth me spending the money on?

Thanks for the reply. I guess my worry is that I spend the cash on the game, and then a week later I see another game and I'm like "Ah crap, I should have bought that game instead."

Well, wildstar wont be out until several months, and Im guessing you want a replacement to wow rather soon?
I dont know how pvp you are, but in terms of competitive scene in an mmorpg it's pretty much wow and now what GW2 is starting to build. Other than that I cant see any mmorpg out there that you would need to buy for good pvp (I would have bought it myself if it existed:P), other mmorpgs got pvp for fun, and plenty of those games you can play for free. You aren't really missing out. Also GW2 is a one time buy, if you put it on the shelf for a while because you want to try some of the f2p-options out there, you can always return later (for example when a big patch hits) and try it again. Once yours - always yours.

Depends why you want to play MMO's.
WoW has an ENOURMOUS amount of content and adds even more each patch every few months. I don't see a reason why anyone would want a game to take the place of WoW 1 to 1.

You can play multiple MMO's, but if you are acting like there is one out there that should take the place of WoW as a game, you aren't going to find anything on the same level.
That being said, there are many different niches that WOW provides, and it may be very possible that you have absolutely no interest in some of them.

I can tell you this with confidence though...
No other game will match the Achievement/collection aspect just because of the sheer amount of content within, and no game even comes close in the PvE aspect.
In terms of PvP, I don't find anything interesting in any MMO out there.
I prefer to stick to pure pvp games like a Moba, which is slowly overpowering the video game market.
If you are looking for a game for pvp, forget Guild Wars and even WoW for that matter and check out the options like Dota2 and LoL, games that are made for pvp, and not simply also feature player v player ranked interactions.

That being said, if you haven't followed up on world of warcraft recently, I think you should take a second look.
This expansion has easily been the best thing the game has even seen, if only because of the massive amount of upgrades they have done to multiple systems.
The pet battle additions alone equate to more content than all other MMORPG's have put together in the same time frame.
On top of this, in 5.4 (Likely August or later patch) they are adding a third difficulty raid, in between LFR and N/H progression.
The difficulty is all over the front page, so check it out yourself (known as Flexraids) but most importantly is the fact that you can use Openraid to coordinate groups for it. This means you will be able to experience the pinnacle of the Garrosh storyline on your own timeframe, yet still have a somewhat challenging experience (Hopefully).

This is something I feel a lot of people overlook who claim they are loosing interest in the game. I imagine a majority of people who lose interest in WoW but don't already have a replacement game taking up their time do so because they don't know what to do in the game or don't have people to do it with.
Openraid is an amazing tool for just such an occasion, and will allow you to do practically anything you want in the game at a time that works for you.

I understand the sentiment about not wanting to pay monthly, but speaking from first hand experience, I would pay double what I pay for WoW and still be satisfied, as it is putting out that much content with each patch, while a game like GW2 is adding 1 feature and tuning the others that went live with launch.

Not saying GW2 is bad, or any other MMO but they really are best played when you are looking for a break from WoW, not as a true alternative.

Either way, Tera is a really good candidate as well.
The game has pretty interesting combat (much more so than WoW and gw2), and immaculate graphical fidelity. It recently has gone ENTIRELY free. You don't have to buy anything, not even the game.
If you choose not to heed my advice, and are still looking for a good f2p mmo, I would recommend that over any other out there.

There's new pvp maps, leaderboards, matching systems. More support for shoutcasters is coming next patch on the 11th.

Big plus for pvp in GW2 is you don't have to screw around with leveling or gearing to play high end pvp. Jump in, make a toon, go to the Mists, pick your stats and runes and play.

To be honest, as someone who's played GW2, this just looked like a clusterfuck with no actual intelligent strategy going in to it. That's my honest opinion. PvP in MMOs, as an e-sport, is a bloody joke. Leave the e-sports to games which are mentally challenging (LoL should die by the way).

PvE is quite boring after a 50 hours or so. It seems like most people didn't like the game after hitting level 80. I witnessed multiple guilds with 100+ people quit the game just months after launch because they just weren't having fun anymore. I'm one of them.
I would not suggest buying the game for SPvP, it is barely even there. Very few resources are put into it and it really shows. The SPvP population is nearly dead, WoW's PvP is 50-100 times more active than GW2's PvP, and WoW's PvP is considered to be a failure by most.
WvW is still active, but a bit too zergy for me.

In all likelihood, the OP is probably better off trying the wealth of quality F2P games on the market before buying any game.

-> Rift is f2p on the 12th of June.
-> Tera is f2p.
-> Star Wars The Old Republic is f2p.
-> Neverwinter is f2p.
-> Vindictus is f2p.
-> Lord of the Rings Online is f2p.
-> Age of Conan is f2p.
-> Age of Wushu is f2p.

Can play/try out any of those for quite awhile without any commitment. In the case of Tera and Rift, their F2P models offer a shocking level of value & quality for no necessary cost.

Another great B2P game in the vein of Guild Wars 2 would The Secret World. Probably the best MMO of the last 2 years.

Another great B2P game in the vein of Guild Wars 2 would The Secret World. Probably the best MMO of the last 2 years.

Beware if you do get The Secret World. It has a radically different quest system, and actually requires (At least the more puzzling ones) to use a lot of what you know from history. Or you'll either have to use guides / research it yourself. Preferably the research, but it does impede your progress on a lot of quests. At least it did for me, so don't be surprised if you can't progress on a quest without looking up a guide.

EDIT: I want to complete every quest though, so I level quite differently.

"Your name was stolen? I see... Well, I guess that happens from time to time..."

Personally I love the game, so I am biased. That being said, from a pvp standpoint WvW and sPvP have recently had new life put into them. PvE has always been fun for me, but it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. But bottom line, I think WvW alone is good reason to get this game... when it's good, it is just amazing.

Personally I love the game, so I am biased. That being said, from a pvp standpoint WvW and sPvP have recently had new life put into them. PvE has always been fun for me, but it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. But bottom line, I think WvW alone is good reason to get this game... when it's good, it is just amazing.

WvW is amazing

Take 2 mins to watch this brilliantly executed strategy on a Borderlands map of a Tier 3 match this week:

actually i am not sure also.I play gw2 before, but now play firefall games .Before i also likes to spent my money on some web to buy some gold ,,but now i am not.u can see in my mail box also exsist the code( IGXECOUPON666 ) of igxe they sent to me it said 8% can be used many times,., but i only used three times....
my advice is if u like u can buy what u want, if u think it is not worth, then just focus on study,,,don't spent the time, i have graduated from school and make money by myself,,,so i will not think so much ,maybe someday will buy some also

It's a very fun game that you can pick up and put down whenever. They have casual stories every couple weeks that are temporarily available and progress an overall story that take an MMO-vet a weekend tops to complete all challenges for. It's a great casual MMO.

The downside is if you want an MMO that offers a metric fuckton to do (Ie carrot on a stick with dailies etc, like WoW). For me, for a while, it wasn't enough. I had too much free time and got bored. Now I've begun taking up my old hobbies and abandoning MMOs in general, so it offers more than enough for me.

Basically, I think given what you said about your situation with time, it is a good choice to buy. The living world will entertain you without being so much content you miss it due to time constraints.

I'd strongly recommend looking into what server is most active around your play-time, though. I made the mistake of hopping on a server that is dead during EST peak. Luckily I can guest wherever; it only effects WvW negatively.

but pyro is from maguuma, and they're fighting vs us (TC), this match was 6 months ago :P now maguuma gets stomped in T1

Cod has a new campaign, new weapons, new multiplayer levels every year. Zelda has been recycling the same weapons, villains, and dungeons since the 80's. Zelda recycles enough to make cod blush. The same weapons, villains, dungeons, and princess in every single Zelda for the most part. It's almost as cheesy as bowser vs Mario round 35